The weekend started off with a breakfast held by Cosmetiques De France at the Guylian Cafe. If you haven’t heard of them they are Australia’s exclusive distributor’s of Bioderma, Uriage and Nuxe.

Next up was IMATS. There were a couple of booths missing from the last list I had checked but there was still more than enough to look at. The student competitions were happening (pictured below) and I also got to catch Kevin James Bennett’s talk. Which was not only informative but he was pretty funny as well. There was even a media room where we could go to get manicures, massages and refreshments thanks to Royal Langnickle.

As usual the day was pretty busy and the lines at MAC and Inglot were absolutely crazy! First stop shopping wise for me was Royal & Langnickle, after buying some brushes from them 2 years ago I was so impressed I knew I needed to buy some more. I also made some purchases from Blync Lashes, LA Splash, Mehron, PM Studio for some Makeup Forever products, MAC and when I got home I made an online order from Crown brushes to get the things I completely forgot about. (Oh and that order arrived in 1 day!). All products I got over the weekend will be featured in a separate post though because I really need to break it up a bit.

Above Left: A Model at MAC and Right: Yolanda Bartram’s work at the Make-Up Artist magazine booth.

After IMATS I went back to my horrid hotel room to relax (ha!) and get ready for the evenings activities. Which was going to see Legally Blonde the Musical thanks to Lust Have It! I personally really like Musicals and it was probably the perfect event for a group of beauty bloggers. There were drinks and then the show. We even got to go backstage to hear more about the production and meet some of the cast. I must say Erika Heyanatz is even more stunning in person (if that was even possible), and the girls in our group were pretty excited to meet David Harris and Rob Mills.

Well that was the first days activities, I had a wonderful time and I really can’t thank Sarah-May Monaghan and Larah Kennedy enough. The weekend was perfect and I can’t even imagine how much time went into organising it all!

As the name suggests these shadows are certainly pigmented but also buttery soft and have been a dream to blend! They can be used dry or wet for a more intense colour payoff, so far I’ve only used them dry as the colour payoff for me has been amazing as is.

Oh and did I mention they are duo chromes?!? So the Total Intensity Shadows give off this gorgeous multi-colour almost wet looking glow. There are no matte in this collection so to wear I have been blending them out and using my face powder as my highlight, (also great way to blur edges if you go too full on with them). Wear wise there hasn’t been a problem, I’ve still been using a eyeshadow primer underneath, (but I do with all shadows as a precaution anyway). But no creasing or fading issues that I’ve noticed.

If I had to pick a favourite it would have to be Hocus Pocus, its a stunning almost brownish shade that blends out to a kind of burnt colour which gleams green. (Oh my describing skills are severely lacking today it seems!) I’d definitely suggest going into a store and swatching them, they are even prettier than what they look in the photo’s. (These were pretty hard for me to capture).

You can see me wearing Hocus Pocus and Bewitched HERE in my soft smoky eye tutorial, or Hocus Pocus, Spellbound and Crave HERE in my latest volume for hair tutorial. There will be more just need to get better snaps!

Packaging wise they also tick all the boxes for me, they open and close easily and look quite sleek.

Retailing at $18.99 AU RRP, but until 5pm today you can buy one get one free on the Prestige Website! (Just follow the directions below).

“They are finally here and we are so excited!!!!!
For 1 day only, when you buy any NEW Total Intensity Eyeshadow, you will receive another Total Intensity Eyeshadow valued at $18.99 FREE!!!
All you have to do to redeem this offer is select the 2 colours you would like and enter the discount code below at checkout.
Feel free to share this offer with your friends!

Valid until 5pm, Thursday 27th September 2012 only. Can be used as many times as you like in one transaction. Can only be used once per person. Free Shipping for all orders over $50.Use the following code when checking out: LAUNCHEYESHADOW”

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Back with another pictorial, (kind of really loving these lately). But this time its for a soft smoky eye (or smokey?) . Products will be listed under the pictorial. One thing I forgot to add below was that if you want your eye’s to ‘wing up’ kind of like a cat eye don’t slope the eyeshadow in the crease like I have, ‘pull’ it up towards you temple instead.

What products I used:

Yes only two shadows! They are from the upcoming Prestige launch this Thursday the 27th of September. There will be more on them later in the week but I will say now they are duo chromes and they are GORGEOUS!!!

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I bought these shoes on sale a few weeks ago from Rubi, I loved them. They felt somewhat familiar and were on sale so I had to have them. Fast forward to a couple of days ago and I realised why they felt so familiar, they are almost a direct copy of Jeffery Campbell’s I had been looking at on Urban Outfitters. Now I don’t mind ‘inspired’ pieces but these are too much of a copy for me to want to wear them so I thought I’d jazz them up a little with some skulls and studs. This is a really quick and easy DIY that really shouldn’t take any more than 30 mins (but probably less).

So onto the Pictorial, (I really wish I cleaned them at the end before I took the last picture, I was having trouble taking photo’s because they were reflecting almost everything)

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Following on from yesterdays post on how to use the Backcomb in a Bottle from Umberto Giannini is todays quick review on it and the Morning After Dry Shampoo.

Both the Backcomb in a Bottle (217ml) and the Morning After Dry Shampoo 202ml) retail for $13.99 each and are available in Woolworths stores nationally.

The scent of both of the products isn’t overpowering.

Gorgeous Packaging throughout 5 product range.

Backcomb in A Bottle

“Directions: Spray from approximately 10cm to where you want backcomb effect and jujj hair into shape as you go.”

Not only better for the hair than traditional backcombing but its much quicker as well.

Works very well on my long angled bob I have at the moment. It certainly gives my hair a bit of oomph!

As my how to showed you yesterday its great to use on straight styles for a grungy style but also works well to create texture for updo’s and works great with curls too.

Easy to brush out with a bristle brush.

My hair hasn’t been weighed down or left sticky from the product. (With that being said don’t saturate your hair with the product)

Morning After Dry Shampoo

“Directions: Spray approximately 10cm away to roots and work through hair with your hands.”

Great product for refreshing 2nd or 3rd day old hair.

Quick to use.

Its actually a clear spray as opposed to the traditional coloured so no chalky roots!

Also can help create volume.

Dry shampoo’s are great when travelling.

I have been very happy with both of these products. For me they have done what they claim and the gorgeous packaging sets them apart from a lot of other brands that can be found in your local supermarket. I‘m keen on trying out the other products in the range – Grunge Glamour Tousled Salt Spray, Rock’n’Roll Extreme Hairspray and the Sex Bomb Massive Mouse and they will no doubt be added to my trolley next time I’m at woolie’s.

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Full review of the Umberto Giannini Backcomb in a Bottle as well as the Dry Shampoo from the range is here but I thought I’d share a quick how-to that I created with just the Backcomb in a bottle first!

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Nail art can sometimes be a bit too tricky at home for me but with the help of some cheap striping tape and dotting tools (I bought both from eBay for under $5!) this is a really easy nail art tutorial.

The colour combinations for this is endless but I am really loving the two lighter grey/ lavenders (they are almost opaque after 1 coat, 2 is perfect!) from the Essie winter collection I got sent a while and decided to pair them with a white.

For a white cheap polish this one actually performs a lot better than I was expecting. It retails around the $3-4 mark and isn’t as thick as some other cheap whites I’ve tried.

I finished off with the Australis top coat which I am loving over every single polish I’ve tried it with, I wish I could capture the gorgeous flakies but my photography skills really aren’t that great to begin with. I promise I am really trying to take better shots but some days I just really suck!

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Today I have a pretty awesome surprise for you all, a competition. If you are interested in winning 1 of 3 prize packs from Trilogy all you have to do is ‘like’ the Trilogy Facebook page and answer the question in the Rafflecopter widget
( The Body Cleansing bar is made from a base of gentle botanical oils including _______ and ______. (Hint the answer can be found at http://www.trilogyproducts.com/store/products/Body_Cleansing_Bar )
and leave the answer below in the comments.

;

If you are after extra entries you can ‘like’ the Madame B Fatale Facebook Page and/ or Tweet about the giveaway, it’s that simple!